CHAMBERSBURG - In the past year Franklin County juries have determined the fate of two men accused of abusing babies. In one case, a 4-month-old suffered 18 fractures all over his body from two months of abuse. In the other, a 14-month-old suffered bruising from being smacked several times over the course of an evening.

The man convicted of the abuse in the second case is looking at doing considerably more time than the one a jury believed caused the fractures because his case came after a crucial law change.

The new legislation came on Jan. 1, 2014, according to Franklin County District Attorney Matt Fogal. It allowed prosecutors to charge someone with second degree felony aggravated assault with "bodily injury" as opposed to the "serious bodily injury" standard from before, if the victim was under 6 years old and the defendant was 18 or older.

The case against Shane Hockenberry, 21, convicted of slapping a baby he was watching on Dec. 15, 2014, was the first the county was able to prosecute under the new legislation, including the second degree felony aggravated assault.

In August, a Franklin County jury determined that Dustin Sipes was guilty of simple assault for causing 18 fractures to a 4-month-old baby, but not the former version of the aggravated assault charge, which was graded as a first degree felony.

The decision came after the jury questioned one of the key factors of aggravated assault, the definition of malice, which was in the definition of the charge.

Because the abuse in the Sipes' case occurred in 2013 - before the new statute - Fogal said they were unable to use the change charge at trial.

Franklin County Judge Angela Krom decided that in Sipes case, she was going to sentence him far outside a standard range sentence, due to the nature of the baby's injuries. Hockenberry will not be sentenced until June 8 by Franklin County Judge Jeremiah Zook, but already he is looking at more time from the standard range perspective than Sipes was.

The two men are the same in that they had no prior record before these incidents. For the simple assault charge, which both men are convicted of, the Pennsylvania Sentencing Guide suggests a standard sentence of a maximum of three months, with the minimum end being "restorative sanctions" that can include completing programs, probation, or other diversionary programs.

Sipes was looking at a standard range of between three years and four and a half years in state prison for the aggravated assault charge he was facing, but was ultimately not convicted of.

Hockenberry is looking at standard range sentence of between six months and a year and two months for his abuse, which Sipes would have been facing as well had he been able to be charged accordingly.

Despite the injuries in the Sipes case being much more severe, Krom had to not only sentence him far outside the standard range to get him a minimum of two years in prison, she did so saying she was aware she would have to defend her sentence.

Should Zook decide Hockenberry requires a sentence outside of the standard range, Hockenberry's maximums are several years outside what Sipes' could be.

"The new law essentially allows for more punishment when less serious injuries are caused to very young victims, recognizing that they are clearly at a more vulnerable age and therefore in need of more protection," Fogall said. " As such, we are very happy that the new legislation passed in order to further protect our children from abusers."